Visit Wilderness

Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Minnesota

Why Visit Wilderness?

While wilderness can be appreciated from afar—through online content, television, or books—nothing compares to experiencing it firsthand. Activities like camping, hiking, or hunting allow you to fully enjoy the recreational, ecological, spiritual, and health benefits that wilderness areas offer. These areas provide “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” chances to observe wildlife, moments to renew and refresh, and the physical benefits of outdoor exercise. In many wilderness areas, you can even bring your well-behaved dog.

Learn more about the diverse ways in which we benefit from wilderness and threats wilderness areas face today.

Rising from desert foothills near the center of the Wilderness, a major mountain with four peaks can be seen from great distances in all directions. From the craggy summits the land drops down a complex series of ridges and drainages to bluffs and deep gorges. Elevations vary from around 1,600 feet to 7,657 feet on Brown's Peak, the highest of the four peaks.

Ponderosa pine and some Douglas fir grow in the highlands. A few aspen stand on the north side of Brown's Peak. Intermediate elevations have produced impenetrable thickets of manzanita, Gambel oak, and pinion pine. Below 4,000 feet, grasslands blend into the Upper Sonoran Desert and impressively huge saguaro cacti thrive. The narrow canyons are pleasingly shaded with cottonwoods and sycamores.

One of the densest black bear populations in Arizona lives in this Wilderness. Other mammals include ring-tailed cats, skunks, coyotes, deer, javelinas, and mountain lions. Keep your eyes open for rattlesnakes, scorpions, black widow spiders, centipedes, and millipedes.

If you climb the mountain be prepared for temperatures noticeably cooler than down below. Lightning storms occur regularly during "desert monsoon season" (July and August) and flash floods are common. Snow accumulates here in winter.

A 40-mile trail network offers ample hiking opportunities. Some trails, such as Brown's Trail (two miles) and Pigeon Trail (two miles), are in excellent shape, while others are in poor condition, among them the Cane Spring Trail (2.3 miles) and the Oak Flat Trail (1.8 miles). Most of the trails receive little human use. The notable exceptions are Brown's Trail and the Four Peaks Trail, a 10-miler that traverses the northern and eastern flanks of Four Peaks.

Springs and streams are seasonal, and water is often impossible to find.

Group size is limited to 15 people and 15 head of livestock. Length of stay is limited to 14 days.

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Four Peaks Wilderness.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.

Location

Maps

Digital and paper maps are critical tools for wilderness visitors. Online maps can help you plan and prepare for your visit ahead of time. You can also carry digital maps with you on your GPS unit or other handheld GPS device. Having a paper map with you in the backcountry, as well as solid orienteering skills, however, ensures that you can still route-find in the event that your electronic device fails.

Online Maps

Interactive Map of the Four Peaks Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Arizona Wildernesses

Printed Maps

Fetching MyTopo from Database

USGS Store

Rules & Regulations

Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is generally prohibited in all wilderness areas. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.

Wilderness-Specific Regulations

Learn more about why regulations may be necessary in wilderness.

Contacts

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 98-406

Date: August 28, 1984
Acreage: 53,500 acres

Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public Law 98-406 (8/28/1984) Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-406 or special provisions for 98-406 or legislative history for 98-406.

Want to Volunteer for Wilderness?

People who volunteer their time to steward our wilderness areas are an essential part of wilderness management. Contact the following groups to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Groups are listed alphabetically by the state(s) in which the wilderness is located.